The copyright violation axis of evil?

Iran and North Korea as an “Axis of Evil” that threatened the safety of Americans. Now, more than a decade later, the U.S. government has called out four countries as hotbeds of digital piracy: China, Russia, India and Switzerland.

The report placing those four countries on a watch list comes from the International Creativity and Theft-Prevention Caucus (ICTPC). Not only are these countries rife with pirated software, the governments of the countries have done little to address the issue.

The biggest news in the latest version of the list is the addition of India, which had previously claimed a decrease in software piracy.

Another surprise on this list is Switzerland, which has not appeared on governmental lists of U.S. trading partners with intellectual property failings. The other three countries in the ICTPC report were listed among the top 10 violators. But a recent Swiss Supreme Court decision makes it difficult for rights holders to bring suit against peer-to-peer violators.

The marking of China and Russia as areas of concern should come as a surprise to no one. China, in particular, has been notorious for pirated software, to the point where U.S. companies have struggled to get a foothold there selling legitimate products.

On a positive note, the report states that both Italy and the Philippines have made progress in this area.

Senior Editor and Community Manager

Rich Steeves

Richard P. Steeves is Senior Editor and Community Manager of InsideCounsel magazine, where he covers the intellectual property and compliance beats. Rich earned a B.A....